Kevin Whitcher
The Arsenal supporters needed a day like yesterday after a season of disappointment. That the club finished second in the table for the first time since Patrick Vieira departed the club, and surprisingly above a Tottenham side that suffered a… well… Arsenal-style collapse in their last four fixtures meant a hugely enjoyable afternoon for all those that experienced it.
Olivier Giroud seems to have found form just in time for the European Championships. Then again, the quality of the opposition needs to be taken into account before too many conclusions are drawn from this match, one that it took the home side 78 minutes to be certain of winning. For long periods it felt quite nothingy on the pitch, but news from the North East kept everyone entertained.
Santi Cazorla returned to the midfield after his long absence and in spite of this being his first game back, his influence on the balance of the side was obvious. Arsenal, creatively, never really compensated for his absence, although they did manage to claw their way to the top of the table in the initial period after his injury.
It was a sunny afternoon, the kind we have not enjoyed often enough this season. With it being the opportunity to say farewell to Messrs Arteta, Rosicky and Flamini, for the players it looked like an emotional afternoon, as the scenes when they celebrated with Rosicky after the second goal indicated. In spite of his lack of appearances due to frequent injuries, he was obviously a huge figure behind the scenes. The same goes for Mikel Arteta. Flamini’s left the club once before, and received far less fanfare. Theo Walcott’s part in the post match lap of appreciation – if one looks at body language – indicated he will be moving on in the summer. Significantly he wasn’t even on the bench and didn’t take the opportunity to do a final ‘bump’ with the BFG. All the signs of an impending medical in my book. Why take the chance? Interesting to see Rosicky get such a send off after ten years when Walcott has actually been at the club even longer. Of course he isn’t officially saying goodbye yet, although the writing does seem to be on the wall there.
Stan Kroenke was in attendance, although did not remain for the lap of appreciation. I doubt he even knows what Arteta or Rosicky look like. He might have wondered what all the fuss was about going by the atmosphere yesterday.
The lap of appreciation was held in front of a very healthy crowd. Although approximately 10,000 people decided not to bother attending the game, of those that did, a far greater number remained than normally do for the end of season troop around the pitch for the players and their offspring. It wasn’t a day for giving anyone a hard time, with the various goodbyes. The point that a freshening up of things is badly needed has been made often enough during the season. Yesterday wasn’t the day for it.
Of course, Arsene Wenger will be there next season. Does one call a campaign when his team improved their final league position from last year progress? They scored less points, although the fact remains that although Arsenal beat Leicester twice they somehow conspired to finish ten points behind a side with significantly less resources than them. If you had been told at the start of the season that the Gunners would end the campaign with more points than Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham, how many of you would think that Wenger would fail to land his first Premier League title in 12 seasons?
The first two sides, and probably United will be changing manager as a consequence of their campaigns. Liverpool made their switch halfway through the season. The 2016-17 Premier League is already shaping up to be a very interesting one. Arsenal will spend money in the summer, no doubt about that after the shambles of the 2015 transfer window. However, the over-riding psychology of the players is that, when push comes to shove, they do not have what it takes to win a title. That needs changing and it can either happen with a huge overhaul in personnel (requiring the manager to buy the right type of players, ones that will effectively do the job he isn’t doing in terms of motivating and organising) or a change in the dugout. Will either happen? I wouldn’t bet on it. Then again, I didn’t take 5000-1 on Leicester last August.
Football can be full of surprises. Arsenal have finished fourth, third and now second in the last three seasons. So the logical next step is title winners. However, we all know, this year was the golden opportunity. It was a fine end to the season, and a day of joy, smiles and celebration. But when all is said and done, it was a crumb of comfort at the end of a campaign to forget.
Still, always nice to finish about the noisy neighbours, right?
I am now on Twitter@KevinWhitcher01.
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